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Zaal
Zaal ''the Ancestral Advocate led the extoller caste as Supreme Aptimus in both communing with the honored dead and leading hosts of ancestral guardians and immortals in battle. He was a feared figure among the Skorne and despite his honored position he dveleved into the forbidden arts that would be blasphemous in Skorne society. Mortally wounded during a battle against Ios, Zaal, preserved himself with his last breath. His devoted followers recovered his sacral stone and fused him into a new form worthy of his stature. Zaal retains leadership of his caste as the ''Ancestral Advocate, his will and his connection to the spirit realm are stronger than ever and he is leading the extoller caste into a new path. History Zaal was born to House Kerash, in of the city of Kaleed situated east of Halaak around 430 AR. While the house is relatively small their city was home to a sizable library filled with treatises on the occult which was the center of a thriving occult community. The city itself was named after one of the two extollers who invented the art of exaltation. The number of accomplished extollers and other mortitheurges produced by the city the was only rivaled by the first skorne city of Malphas. Around 430 AR Zaal succesfully became an extoller by replacing one of his eyes with an Occulus.No Quarter #62 During his time House Karesh was in crisis, facing several disasters and setbacks during conflicts with rivals and in 500 AR Zaal becomes a Senior Aptimus in the middle of the crisis. Zaal was known for his ability in “awakening” the exalted whose minds have become increasingly foreign and strange centuries after death and thus them joining battle was not always guaranteed. He also found ways to streamline and expedite the process by which both ancestral guardians and immortals could be fabricated. This allowed him to bolster the martial power of his house substantially. Zaal helped House Kerash weather the encroachment of its rivals and even thrive. Thus in 540 AR he becomes Supreme Aptimus which at the time only had power over the extollers of a single house. Rumors of improper treatment of exalted ancestors by House Kerash extollers began during this time as a result of Zaal’s research by stealing less valued sacral stones such as those of lesser ancestors from defeated houses which would not be missed and is even believed to have broken them to stuy the Kovaas. Supreme Aptimus In 594 AR Vinter Raelthorne IV arrives in Eastern Immoren and begins to systematically conquer the skorne village by village, adding to his army. In 596 AR Zaal is sent by his dominar to Halaak to investigate the outsider who has bent so many skorne houses to his will. Zaal meets Vinter before he challenged House Balaash. During the meeting Zaal pledged his support to the conqueror and his unique talents in communicating with ancestors help legitimize Vinter's rule.In return Vinter created the new position of Supreme Aptimus to control the entire extoller caste and in 600 AR was appointed Zaal to the position. Zaal created a central repository of sacral stones and his power rose beyond not only that of lesser extollers but also of the house and caste system of Skorne. Thus he began to push the boundaries of his occult research even further. However after Vinter left to besiege Corvis in 603 AR Skorne houses rebelled against the empire and soon outnumbered Vinter loyalists. He joined loyalists under Makeda who were besieged in the greatest fortress of House Balaash in Halaak. Zaal knew that if the empire fell then he will not only lose his power over his caste but also face retribution for his research into sacral stones. In addition it is also believed that the he foresaw furture events including Makeda's rise due to the prophetic abilities of the exalted. As a result of his aid House Balaash was able to call forth a large number of ancestors and immortals allowing them to hold on till the return of Vinter who carried out the Second Unification After the unification he was assigned to oversee the extollers of newly created Army of the Western Reaches. While Makeda carried out reforms in the Skorne military Zaal carried out similar reforms to the extoller caste, taking away house allegiances and purging his opponents. He also carried out experiments alongside Hexeris on the passage of souls after death noting that the souls of Humans ,Trollkin and Skorne move towards different direction after death. In 607 AR he takes up residence in the newly built Klokhor Fortress near Castle of the Keys. In 608 AR Zaal sees a dragon flying towards the Castle of Keys which he identifies as Scaefang using his occulus. Using the power of a sacral stone he then sends a message to Mordikaar who was carrying experiments on the dragon corpse in the castle. After the battle he recommends to not rebuild the castle as the danger of another dragon attack remains. Hordes: EvolutionForces of Hordes: Skorne MK2 Later he is confronted by Hexeris over a sudden deployment of forces. Zaal reveals that ancestor Jyvox known for his accurate prophecies warned of a massive ritual that would affect all of Skorne holdings in the west and warns that great events are about to unfold. He also expresses the desire to capture the athnac of a dragon stating that while defeating a dragon itself may be impossible the warlocks of the Legion of Everblight has similar stones. He also deduces that these to shards of a larger athnac similar to the shards of sacral stones used to empower skorne weapons.Hordes: Domination He joins with Makeda to assault the druids of the Circle Orboros carrying out the ritual. The need to stop the ritual forces the Skorne to take higher casualties than necessary. While the forces of the druids are forced to retreat the ritual is concluded but nothing noticeable happens. However when questioned by Makeda Hexeris and Zaal decide hide their failure by saying that they were successful in sabotaging the ritual. After the Skorne began to fortify the space Hexeris questions Makeda on the reasons to which she calls it a "mustering point" for an invasion of Ios. She reveals that Hakaar the Destroyer has revealed that the Gate of Mists is weak due to the large number of forces deployed abroad and that the iosans have grown soft and weak. Hexeris deduces that Zaal already knew it. Ancestral Advocate Duing the invasion 609 AR Zaal was sent to reinforce Xerxis who had launched a diversion in the north to lure Iosan forces away from Makeda who was assaulting from the south. Facing a technologically superior foe without proper supply lines had left the forces of Xerxis exhausted. However Zaal's mind was occupied by the cryptic prophecy of exalted ancestor Xycus stating "The night wind howls. It whispers your destiny. It whispers vengeance, by the wind’s edge". ''When he arrived he found Xerxis wounded and he and a fellow extoller attempted to discourage him from fighting saying that it was not worth to die a useless death. However as soon as darkness fell the camp was attacked by Iosans. '' ''No Quarter #60 While the front lines held Zaal and Xerxis were attacked by mage hunters seeking to assassinate them. Then Xycus sent another prophecy to Zaal stating "''The night wind approaches. Set free the Fury of Halaak". Zaal attempted to convince Xerxis to leave who initially chose to die rather than flee but Zaal argued that he is important for Makeda and the Skorne Empire. While Xerxis retreated Zaal faced the assassins with Xycus and several immortals as well as an Aradus which was slowly arriving. Zaal used his powers to attack the mage hunters killing several and also enhancing the stone bodies of Xycus and the immortals who formed a stone wall in front of him. While immortals performed relatively poorly against the agile elven mage hunters Xycus was more efficient and managed to kill one. Just as Zaal thought he had evaded the prophecy he was stabbed from behind forcing him to send the wound to the aradus before he killed the assassin. Knowing that his death is near he casted a spell that vastly enhanced the speed of the exalted guardian at the cost of its stone body. Xycus managed to kill two mage hunters but soon his body crumbled and the enemy warcaster sent her sword through Zaal. In his dying breath Zaal asked for her name in Iosan and she introduced herself as Kaelyssa, Night’s Whisper. Zaal reacted with a laugh and merely claimed "Of course". However he noticed the presence of the sacral stone of Xycus and with his arcane might Zaal shattered it. As Xycus was ancient and powerful his stone had accumulated vast mystical energies creating a Kovaas that had not been since the three great Kovaas that destroyed half of Halaak. The spectral entity attacked the arriving mage hunters whose flesh blackened and withered while they screamed. The corpses that struck the ground were twisted, shrunken things that barely resembled the living creatures they had been. Kaelyssa and the mage hunters retreated and Zaal directed the growing Kovaas towards the front lines with the final order "Kill them all". Zaal crawled to the body of another extoller while keeping his major organs working using mortitheurgy and on his corpse he found an empty sacral stone. He held the stone his to chest and as his mortal life ended he remembered the prophecy "It whispers your destiny". His devoted followers returned to the site of his last stand and recovered the stone, bringing it back to fuse into a new form, one worthy of his stature. Already controversial for his actions in life man accused him that his own unorthodox exaltation was an abuse of his authority, as only a rare few outside the warrior caste receive exaltation. His followers pointed to the fact that he died in glorious battle and that his unequalled mind required preservation. None could openly challenge him as that would result in their entire house losing their right to exaltation and the ancestors could only speak through his underlings. Now he tolerates no insubordination or disloyalty. Both his will and his connection to the spirit realm are stronger than ever. Untethered spirits swirl about his obsidian body while his vision pierces the veil of death to perceive the mysteries of the world and lay their secrets bare. Zaal retains unprecedented control over his caste, and the extollers of the Army of the Western Reaches are fanatically loyal to him. His newfound understanding of the untapped potential within each sacral stone carries with it the promise of grim endeavors to come.Forces of Hordes: Skorne Command MK3 References Category:Skorne Empire Category:Skorne Category:Warlock Category:Hordes